Patents by Inventor Michael Henry Lewis

Michael Henry Lewis has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10620175
    Abstract: A method for determining chlorophyll content of a plant comprises capturing a first image comprising light transmitted through a leaf of a plant; capturing a second image comprising light reflected from the leaf of the plant; estimating, from a plurality of pixels in the first image, a transmissive chlorophyll concentration value of the leaf; estimating a reflectance chlorophyll concentration value for the leaf from a plurality of pixels in the second image using bidirectional reflectance parameters for which a variance of the reflectance chlorophyll concentration value across the plurality of pixels in the second image is reduced; and determining an estimated chlorophyll concentration value for the plant based at least on the transmissive chlorophyll concentration value and the reflectance chlorophyll concentration value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: RAYTHEON COMPANY
    Inventors: Darrell L. Young, Charlotte DeKeyrel, Michael Henry Lewis
  • Patent number: 10157472
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for determining moisture content of corn. In one example, a method includes processing a captured image of an ear of corn using a threshold value to create a segmented binary image comprising a first plurality of blobs, determining at least one characteristic of a plurality of corn kernels represented by the first plurality of blobs, and estimating a moisture value for the ear of corn based on the at least one characteristic of the plurality of corn kernels. In some embodiments, the method includes generating a luminance intensity profile across a region of the captured image containing at least one corn kernel in the plurality of corn kernels, computing a derivative of the luminance intensity profile; an determining, with reference to the derivative of the luminance intensity profile, a location of a boundary of the at least one corn kernel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2018
    Assignee: RAYTHEON COMPANY
    Inventors: Darrell L. Young, Charlotte DeKeyrel, Michael Henry Lewis
  • Patent number: 10019791
    Abstract: A method for generating a yield estimate for a crop of corn includes capturing a digital image of an ear of corn; processing the digital image of an ear of corn to determine a plurality of dimensions for each of a plurality of kernels on the ear of corn; estimating, from the plurality of dimensions, an average kernel volume for the ear of corn; determining, from the average kernel volume and an estimated kernel density, an average kernel weight for the ear of corn; and estimating, from the average kernel weight, a kernels-per-bushel for the ear of corn.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: RAYTHEON COMPANY
    Inventors: Darrell L. Young, Charlotte DeKeyrel, Michael Henry Lewis
  • Publication number: 20170024876
    Abstract: A method for generating a yield estimate for a crop of corn includes capturing a digital image of an ear of corn; processing the digital image of an ear of corn to determine a plurality of dimensions for each of a plurality of kernels on the ear of corn; estimating, from the plurality of dimensions, an average kernel volume for the ear of corn; determining, from the average kernel volume and an estimated kernel density, an average kernel weight for the ear of corn; and estimating, from the average kernel weight, a kernels-per-bushel for the ear of corn.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2016
    Publication date: January 26, 2017
    Inventors: Darrell L. Young, Charlotte DeKeyrel, Michael Henry Lewis
  • Publication number: 20160335477
    Abstract: A method for determining chlorophyll content of a plant comprises capturing a first image comprising light transmitted through a leaf of a plant; capturing a second image comprising light reflected from the leaf of the plant; estimating, from a plurality of pixels in the first image, a transmissive chlorophyll concentration value of the leaf; estimating a reflectance chlorophyll concentration value for the leaf from a plurality of pixels in the second image using bidirectional reflectance parameters for which a variance of the reflectance chlorophyll concentration value across the plurality of pixels in the second image is reduced; and determining an estimated chlorophyll concentration value for the plant based at least on the transmissive chlorophyll concentration value and the reflectance chlorophyll concentration value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 13, 2016
    Publication date: November 17, 2016
    Applicant: RAYTHEON COMPANY
    Inventors: Darrell L. Young, Charlotte DeKeyrel, Michael Henry Lewis
  • Publication number: 20160300363
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for determining moisture content of corn. In one example, a method includes processing a captured image of an ear of corn using a threshold value to create a segmented binary image comprising a first plurality of blobs, determining at least one characteristic of a plurality of corn kernels represented by the first plurality of blobs, and estimating a moisture value for the ear of corn based on the at least one characteristic of the plurality of corn kernels. In some embodiments, the method includes generating a luminance intensity profile across a region of the captured image containing at least one corn kernel in the plurality of corn kernels, computing a derivative of the luminance intensity profile; an determining, with reference to the derivative of the luminance intensity profile, a location of a boundary of the at least one corn kernel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2016
    Publication date: October 13, 2016
    Inventors: Darrell L. Young, Charlotte DeKeyrel, Michael Henry Lewis